Working Waterfront

The road trip and the VW camper that made it possible

In 1966 I was stationed in Florida for a while after my squadron returned from Vietnam. I bought a Volkswagen camper, a new one I think, and, to the consternation of my superiors and a few comrades, joined the hippies I was so attracted to who were protesting the war.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mixing it up with the generations

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. The first night I moved to Islesboro, I woke up in the middle of the night and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On The Water In Maine offers more than lists

When Justin and Tiffany Ford launched their vacation rental management business in 2006, there were about 8,000 residential units available in the state. That number included houses whose owners rented them by the week or month in summer, as well as cabins, cottages, and condominiums near ski resorts like Sugarloaf… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Pingree’s working waterfront bill would provide grants

A proposal by Maine’s Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, to protect working waterfronts and the jobs and economic activity they support, was aired at a congressional subcommittee hearing on Nov. 2. The bill, HR 1176, is co-sponsored by Rep. Rob Wittman, a Republican from Virginia. The bill… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Obama climate advisor tells Mainers he’s ‘optimistic’

Despite the Trump administration’s sharp turn away from working to slow climate change, Brian Deese remains optimistic. Deese, who had been President Barack Obama’s senior advisor on climate, conservation, and energy policies, was the keynote speaker at an Oct. 25 event in Portland hosted by the Maine Conservation Voters advocacy… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Gene ‘editing’ on mice tested in war on ticks

The number of people and pets with Lyme disease increase yearly. Maine is among the top 15 states with the highest rates of the disease. Coastal and southern communities have been hit hardest, and some have taken drastic measures to reduce ticks and their diseases, including culling deer. But culling… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Considering the birds is a balm for troubled mind

One of the things I love about October and November in the Cranberry Isles is the increase in bird stories. It is migrating season and most people out here keep an eye on the birds with many a good story to tell. This fall, especially, my mind has craved the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Thinking conservatively about kitchen energy

It boils down to this: whose energy are you going to use, your own or the energy you buy from the power or gas company? A few weeks ago, we had a half-day conference on Islesboro devoted to energy issues—how to conserve it, how to find alternative sources. While I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

America’s lost and found perspective on Vietnam

By Ethan Andrews The recently released Ken Burns and Lyn Novick Vietnam PBS series adds to the deep catalog from these American masters of the exhaustive-topic documentary and trick-bag of revealing pans and reverse zooms. The latter—a set of camera techniques that animate a still photo or gradually reveal its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Harbor Gawker says goodbye

PHOTO ESSAY BY COURTNEY MOONEY The Harbor Gawker has been a fixture in Vinalhaven’s village center, just a stone’s throw from the harbor, since 1975. That was the year owners Lonnie and Kathy Morton were married. Later, the couple later bought the business from Lonnie's parents, John and Barbara Morton, who… SEE MORE